New York Mets' Josh Satin (13) celebrates with first base coach Tom Goodwin (26) after hitting an RBI single against the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 29, 2014, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr)

In a game bordering on a wet T-shirt contest, the Mets wore Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels down before slip-sliding away with a 6-1 victory in front of an announced crowd of 28,189 at Citizens Bank Park.

Hamels threw 106 pitches in 4 2-3 innings. Just 55 were strikes. How bad was his control? He walked counterpart Jonathon Niese with the bases loaded in the fifth inning.

“The elements definitely got the best of me today,” Hamels said. “When you’re not able to execute it creates a serious issue. And it led to probably a very poor performance. From my standpoint I’m truly embarrassed just for the fact that I didn’t really give anyone a chance. It’s an embarrassment because I’m not allowing my teammates to get into the game. When you’re walking that many guys and you’re allowing the runs to score you don’t give your chance a team to win in that case. Even for the fans that even stayed today it’s pretty embarrassing.”

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The weather conditions were wretched. With the pitchers struggling to grip the ball as well as get their footing, you wondered if there would be enough Diamond Dry to keep the mound manageable.

It was raining when the game started at 8:33 p.m., almost an hour and a half late. Two hours and 53 minutes later it was much worse for the Phillies (13-13), who were hoping to climb two games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2012 season. It was no way to begin a seven-game home stand.

“He got off to a good start the first three innings throwing the ball well then got into trouble in the fifth he just seemed to start laboring,” Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. “He talked about losing a little bit of the right grip of the baseball tonight.”

Ryan Howard, who doubled in the ninth inning, was the only Phillies player to get multiple hits. He was left stranded.

Marlin Byrd averted the shutout and broke up what had been a no-hitter by Niese with a fourth-inning home run.

“Early on in the game I thought we hit some balls hard in the first two or three innings, five or six balls hard right at people,” Sandberg said. “Nothing to show for it. Niese got some run support and really settled in.”

The Mets (15-11), who began a three-city, nine-game road trip, are four games over .500 for the first time this season.

Daniel Murphy went 3-for-3 with one RBI against Hamels, making him 15-for-37 (.405) in his career against the Phillies ace.

Ruben Tejada added two hits, including a two-run bases-loaded single against Hamels.

Tejada, leading off the third inning, grounded a double down the left field line to become the third Mets base runner. The ball skidded off the seats, freezing outfielder Domonic Brown for a moment and giving Tejada just enough time to slide safely into second.

With two outs Murphy lined a 3-1 pitch by Hamels into right to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. It was his second hit of the game.

Carlos Ruiz gunned Murphy down trying to steal second for the third out.

With mound conditions worsening in the fourth inning, Hamels walked two runners and had a 3-2 count on Josh Satin with one out. Statin drilled an RBI-single to center to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

Hamels struck out Travis d’Amaud but walked Tejada to fill the bases and on a 3-2 pitch, walked Niese, the pitcher. It gave the Mets a 3-0 bulge.

The fourth inning ended with Hamels having thrown his 75th pitch. He reached 100 pitches just two outs into the fifth inning, the second straight frame in which he loaded the bases.

Tejada made Hamels pay with the two-run single giving the Mets a 6-1 advantage. It also brought right-hander Roberto Hernandez in from the bullpen for the Phillies.

Hamels surrendered eight hits, six earned runs and five walks. You almost couldn’t remember the three strikeouts.

Meanwhile the Phillies got just one base runner in the first three innings, and that came on a walk to Ruiz, who later singled.

Byrd’s solo shot two outs into the bottom of the fourth inning pulled the Phillies within 3-1. Byrd’s third dinger of the season was wind-aided, the gusts blowing steadily from right to left.

Ryan Howard quickly followed with a line single off the base of the right field fence, returning to first after rolling halfway to second the muddy track. But that was the last, and only time the Phillies had consecutive hits.

Niese allowed four hits and registered five strikeouts in seven innings to even his record at 2-2.